Syracuse University professor and one-time geological engineer George Saunders delivers a collection of fantasticalstories, including "Home," a wryly whimsical account of a soldier's return from war; "Victory Lap," a tale about an inventive abduction attempt; and the title story, in which a suicidal cancer patient saves the life of a young misfit.

After a woman disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary, her diary reveals hidden turmoil in her marriage. Her husband is desperate to clear himself of suspicion and soon discovers that the truth about what happened is even more disturbing than murder.

In the conclusion to the Wheel of Time series, all of humanity is in peril as Rand al'Thor moves forward to break the seals on the Dark One's prison, and the Last Battle will determine the fate of the world.

Bored housewife Dellarobia Turnbow is tired of living in poverty on a failing farm, and she's frustrated by her marriage to the boy who got her pregnant in high school. Then one day, as she's hiking through rural Tennessee on her way to meet a lover, she witnesses a miraculous event on an Appalachian mountainside. The beautiful, ominous vision ignites a media and religious firestorm that changes her life forever. Barbara Kingsolver addresses rural life, climate change and environmental stewardship in this story of personal awakening.

After a brutal attack on his mother, 13-year-old Joe Coutts pursues the truth — and a sense of justice, separate from law enforcement. In this National Book Award-winning novel, Louise Erdrich unspools a mystery that has upturned both a North Dakota reservation and the family that Coutts hopes to save.

In 1923, 15-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment, and watches helplessly as her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented. Hattie gives birth to nine more children, whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave. Their lives tell the story of a mother's monumental courage and the journey of a nation.

Serena Frome isn't much of a spy. She got recruited into MI5 by her Cambridge history tutor and winds up on the clerical side of the operation, cross-filing schemes and plots to stop terrorists. Then one day, in the middle of the Cold War, she's handed her first secret mission: to cultivate and fund British intellectuals whose politics align with those of the government. Its code name is "Sweet Tooth."

Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has come to define her life's work, transporting us to the marshland and coastline of her beloved home, Provincetown, Mass. She shares the wonder of dawn, the grace of animals and the transformative power of attention. Whether studying the leaves of a tree or mourning her adored dog Percy, she patiently observes the teachings contained in the smallest of moments.

Two novellas provide insight on the human condition as a 60-year-old art history academic embarks on an unexpected journey of discovery, and a young farm boy is drawn to the water of Lake Michigan as an escape.

The early death of a small-town councilman reveals deep-rooted conflicts in the seemingly idyllic community of Pagford. In the face of cultural disputes, generation clashes and a volatile election, Pagford's peaceful facade rapidly deteriorates.

In Al Tafar, Iraq, 21-year-old Pvt. John Bartle and 18-year-old Pvt. Daniel Murphy cling to life as their platoon launches a bloody battle for the city. The two men do all they can to protect each other from the forces that are pressing in: the insurgents, physical fatigue and the mental stress that comes from constant danger. As reality begins to blur into a hazy nightmare, Murphy becomes increasingly unmoored from the world around him and Bartle takes actions he could never have imagined.

When a federal judge and his secretary fail to appear for a scheduled trial, panicked clerks call the FBI. A harrowing murder case ensues, culminating in the imprisonment of a lawyer who imparts the story of who killed the judge and why.

The NPR Bestseller Lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide in
collaboration with the American Booksellers Association. For more about independent bookstores and other indie retailers,
visit Indiebound.org.